2018 3:20 (and beyond) (Read 582 times)

Race done. Didn’t die but thought I was going to. Top 10 overall. 42:11. 6.15 GPS miles. 6:52/mi Garmin average. Surprised myself today. I think this is also a new personal record for the 10K.

 

edit: checked a race predictor. It says 3:20:10 using today’s race. Not cool.

 

second edit: previous 10k PR appears to be in the 44 minute range.

Hearty congrats on your 10K PR. A PR is always good

Mom’s on the Run 10K 2018

Mom’s on the Run is a non-profit organization raising funds to provide women with medical expenses from breast and gynecological cancers with living expenses. This is the 18th year and my 3rd time doing the event. One of my favorite things has become the packet pickup because each year it has been different. One year I got socks, One year I got a long sleeve shirt, this year they gave away free 27 ounce collapsible water bottles, some drink my wife has wanted to try, a Chewy bar, random peanut butter powder (wtf is this?), and another long sleeve shirt (STOAKED!). A lot of time and effort seems to go into this race and lots of people come out each year. The second best part is after the event I get a free breakfast buffet with bottomless mimosas…well everyone on our team does.

Packet pickup was eventful. The original plan was to walk over during/after a birthday party as a family. It became “it’s raining just go get the packets. I’ll stay here.” So as I stood in the light rainstorm in a line of 10 people I realize this isn’t going to be like any race I’ve done (alphabetical packet pickup by race distance) and it’s just everyone get in line and we’ll get you stuff. Bibs in one area and packets in another. There are ups and downs to this. Upside is you get all the bibs, and pins, at once and the packets are just “grab one and go” instead of “what distance? What gender?” The downside is waiting in 2 lines. One lady tells her husband to make sure she gets a female shirt if available. I comment “just leave it in the car. You know you’re going to be exchanging it tomorrow” and he laughs. Another lady comments on how everything should be at one spot (bibs and packets) and as someone who has volunteered I fought back the urge to encourage her to offer her time to help organize the event for next year. I get it. It’s raining and you don’t want to be here. Complaining makes it no better. I pick up our shirts, get the wrong size for the wife and head back to the party. 20 minutes later we return to exchange the shirt and the rain, and crowd, have all left.

Race Day
Knowing the area and the popularity of the race the group decided to meet 45 minutes before the race start. Knowing how much more time is required with a 5 month old I arrive about 20 minutes before this to get a good parking spot near the finish and get NeRP ready (fed, in the stroller, and to the designated meeting location) with enough time to do a 20-30 minute warm up. After the 5 minutes of showing off how round my son is and he gives everyone his big smile I take him for a warm up. Having absolutely no practice with pushing a child I decided to run into walking traffic along the course. Hmm…the stroller is pulling left. What’s this screw…oh it moves the wheel. SWEET! Stroller is getting an alignment. Why you’d ever WANT it to pull left/right is beyond me but apparently it’s an option. Thinking I know the course I run the first mile testing out the stroller, trying to get the kid to sleep, and seeing what kind of pace I can keep while also trying to get back to the start with about 10 minutes left. Heading back it looks like the race will start so I do a quick two strides, find the wife, drop the kid off and get to the starting line with time to do a few more strides to stay warm. Everyone on the starting line is ready to go and making jokes about how “we can’t hear anything. Hey Bob (guy dressed as a clown holding his hand up with a walkie talkie to his ear) you might want to move. You’re in a danger zone.” “He needs a sign like the motorcycle races where they turn it sideways and walk off.” “Oh man that fire truck is in a bad spot (100 feet from the start line, in the path of the race).” “NA! Those guys (including eventual 5k overall winner) will be out far enough they’ll have time to move over.” 10 second count down begins…GO!

Mile 1:
As with all “casual” 5k/10k runs there is always a mix of runners at the start. Even with self seeding and signs it never fails to have people who won’t be running a 6:00/mi pace standing in front of someone running that pace. In the first 100m I realize I’m doing sub 6 minute miles. “Back off.” 6:30. “Back off.” I’m getting passed by kids, adults, probably a guy pushing a stroller with a kid in it, and maybe even a guy in a pink gorilla costume. It’s not about them. It’s about the goal (6:50/mi) and starting out too fast isn’t the goal. There is a left hand turn 1/3 of a mile into this race. I take it wide because of the crowd of people who went out too fast now regretting that decision, and a random lady takes the inside, slips, hits the asphalt and all I can think is “I hope she isn’t doing the 10k” because I wouldn’t want to do much after a fall that hard. At the ½ mile mark I settle in to a small crowd at the pace I’m aiming for and hope they’ll be going 6.2 miles today. They look like experienced runners (not wearing the long sleeve shirt, garmins, compression sleeves, etc.) so it would be great to have a group to help pull me along. As we approach the 1 mile mark some random guy in all gray (we shall call him Mr. Gray) turns around and yells out “YEAH 1 MILE! LET’S GOOO!” which makes me hope he’s going to make a turn in about ½ a mile. I don’t want to hear every mile announced. The giant pink signs are enough to let me know where I’m at. 6:48/mi. Okay…it’s possible…but that hill…and that other one…it’s possible. Be positive.

Mile 2:
The cool thing about the 5k and the 10k starting together is I can see how far ahead the 5k winners are. I’m at mile 1.5 and the eventual winner is heading back. I’d just had to pick up the pace from 7:10 (where did that come from?!?!) to stick with the goal. As I pass more people I’m noticing my heart rate is getting high…like danger zone/can’t do this for too long high. I could just quit, turn at the 5K, not cross the finish line and call it a day. This is starting to suck and might be the worst day. Maybe I’m not in 42 minute shape. Well I’ve been reading the book ENDURE and just covered the “Conscious Quitter” chapter. Pretty much it says people perform better when they have positive reinforcement. Stuff like seeing people smile, or hearing encouragement, are able to endure through the discomfort for longer than people who get negative, or no, reinforcement. People will quit sooner if they’re in a bad mood. We’re not quitting. Get positive. Focus on breathing. Oh look…Mr. Gray is going 6.2 miles today. Let go catch him. I’ll bet he start out too fast because it looks like I’m going to catch him. I’m also alone because the pack I was in turned around. Let’s go get him on the hill. I know this course and I HATE that hill. 6:54. Not cool. Not a good sign of things to come if I’m already slowing down. I just might die today.

Miles 3-4:
The start of mile 3 is about the only time it’s been flat for any length of time. It’s part of a TON of races in the area and I know it. There is a hill around 2.75 that can take the wind out of your sails if you’re not prepared for it. It’s about 0.4 miles long and about a 2% grade but it feels MUCH worse. With how I was feeling (I’m going to die, I’m not going to be able to do this, I’m not in this shape) it had the potential to destroy any attempt of getting the goal accomplished. As I pass Mr. Gray and power up the hill I notice I’m doing 7:15 pace. FAWK. Well I notice the mile markers are a little ahead of the GPS. Maybe it’s a short course this year. It was 6.4 last time I ran this (2016) but then again, don’t trust the GPS. This hill also reminds me of the year I casually ran this with my wife (not casual for her) and a resident DEMANDED the volunteer stop the race so they could go to breakfast with their mother. I recall saying something like “dude it’s a charity run” and this is prior to having ANY volunteer experience. Volunteers never get enough appreciation. This hill still sucks though.

10K turn around is pretty open. The aid station is doing it’s job, police are moving cones to make the out and back easier for runners not to run into each other, or a car, and I see the top 3 guys. I start counting…I’m top 10. While not a YUUUUUGGE race it’s something. Don’t lose top 10. I hear someone behind me as I go through the turn around and focus on the pace. Someone yells “you’re way ahead of ____ keep it up” to the guy behind me. I don’t think that’s Mr. Gray. Use the downhill and get back on pace. This is starting to suck. Don’t go too fast though. It’s another 3 miles. Don’t blow up. Down the hill, on the flats, Someone behind me threatening to kick me out of the top 10, and my heart blasting as hard as it can while my stomach is telling me I’m either breathing too hard, it doesn’t like beer before a race, or I’m going to throw up. Just think….this is 3:00:00 marathon pace. Could you hold this for another 22.2 miles? 6:57…shit.

Mile 5-6
This sucks. Not only did I just pull two slow miles but I feel horrible. This is maybe the second time I’ve ever wanted to just quit a race because I felt so horrible. I can’t though. I have to stay positive. I’m top 10. I’m going to finish. It’s 2 miles. 15 minutes. Don’t get passed. Oh look…I’m catching that guy too. Okay go get him. This is a pretty flat area except for one short hill that’s hard just because at this point it’s almost over and flat is WAY better than any kind of elevation. So I’m probably like 7th or 8th place. I think I’m 8th. That’s good. Keep 8th. Get the time back. Come on! 6:52. Maybe it’s gone? Nope. Fuck that. 7 minutes. Wait, we’re going left? I thought we went that way? As I get passed (fuck it, not my day, maybe I’ll stay close) I realize we’re going back to the 5k turnaround. New course? Whatever I know where I’m going now. Slightly uphill, through the slower 5K run/walkers (moms with kids, parents/grandparents walking, slow runners, i.e. crowed streets) but it’s 1 mile.

As I navigate through the crowd and a volunteer says “runners stay to the right” I think “good luck with that. The aid station is to the right and people are walking 4 wide.” Just keep running. Oh look, I think I’m catching the guy with the tank top. Maybe I can get there. Just keep going. It will all be over soon. Zig zag around the crowds, take the inside turn, and enter the last ¾ mile with all of the walkers who were diverted to the finish because of cut off times. This is going to suck. I hate this every time because no one ever notices the 7 guys who just ran past them before me to, oh I don’t know….MAKE A PATH OR AN OPENING. Na, we’re here for the fundraiser. Oh and the home owners who setup mimosa bars on both sides of the street. Um…fuck your free mimosa. Realize there is a race going on and there is someone else here today. This is probably the NUMBER ONE THING I don’t like about this race but I’m not sure how it could be fixed. There are cones setup that look like you’re supposed to go through them, Naturally people will go through them. Nothing is marked “runners to the right walkers to the left” or anything like that. I’ll just have to figure it out and at least I knew it coming in. Oh, and it’s slightly uphill. It might as well be Everest. I don’t think I have anything left to give. So as everyone is getting free drinks or starting a ¼ mile sprint against each other, I’m trying to finish before my heart explodes and my stomach gives up. This seriously fucking sucks. This is absolutely 110% effort and it’s almost done. 6:45. HOLY SHIT!

In the book ENDURE it talks about an experiment where rugby players rode a bike at a set power (242 watts, whatever that means) with a cash prize as an award for whoever went the longest just to make sure everyone went to exhaustion. After each group quit and claimed they couldn’t do any more they were asked to ride as hard as they could for 5 seconds. They all hammered out 731 watts (average) for those 5 seconds. They all thought they had nothing left and still had something left. All of them. Every. Single. One.

Mile 6.15
As I realize I’m going to finish I see the clock at 42:00. HOLY SHIT I’M HERE!!!! I somehow have this SURGE of energy where all I want to do is take long strides and pass some kid pushing himself on an umbrella. My in-laws are there and cheer for me (totally didn’t expect them to be there) and probably figured out I was trying to pass the kid pushing himself. I also passed these two guys who were “sprinting” to the finish (ends up they’re in our group) and the guy in the lead kind of sounds defeated as I run past him. Stop the watch. Continue to feel like shit. Grab my “water in a fancy sport bottle” and start to walk to the inlaws.
42:11. 6:52/mile average. 6.15 miles. It’s a PR by 2 minutes and THAT course was 6.05 miles. I get back to the car, change, and get in touch with the wife. She’s about to finish. Perfect. Brunch time. Mimosa time. Sit down and play with NeRP.

What I learned
1. Don’t quit. If I have the confidence I can do it, I can do it.
2. Don’t think the course will be the same each year. Things change. Sometimes for the better.
3. Fun run 5/10ks CAN be a time to get a PR as long as I’m prepared mentally to deal with the crowd. There is probably a 5% chance I’ll have a problem.
4. My training paces support this finish. My recent 5K supports this finish. I’m training for my current physical fitness and not over reaching.
5. I need to get much faster if I’m going to BQ. This is 3:14-3:20 marathon condition depending who you believe. I need 3:07, or faster, in Chicago and this is pretty much what I’d be running as a tempo/LT run for that. I don’t know how that makes me feel.
6. This is probably easier than being a mom.
7. If you look at it the race actually spells Mother. I learned that about 30 seconds before typing #7.

enjoyed reading the race report

Mom’s on the Run 10K 2018

Mom’s on the Run is a non-profit organization raising funds to provide women with medical expenses from breast and gynecological cancers with living expenses. This is the 18th year and my 3rd time doing the event. One of my favorite things has become the packet pickup because each year it has been different. One year I got socks, One year I got a long sleeve shirt, this year they gave away free 27 ounce collapsible water bottles, some drink my wife has wanted to try, a Chewy bar, random peanut butter powder (wtf is this?), and another long sleeve shirt (STOAKED!). A lot of time and effort seems to go into this race and lots of people come out each year. The second best part is after the event I get a free breakfast buffet with bottomless mimosas…well everyone on our team does.

Packet pickup was eventful. The original plan was to walk over during/after a birthday party as a family. It became “it’s raining just go get the packets. I’ll stay here.” So as I stood in the light rainstorm in a line of 10 people I realize this isn’t going to be like any race I’ve done (alphabetical packet pickup by race distance) and it’s just everyone get in line and we’ll get you stuff. Bibs in one area and packets in another. There are ups and downs to this. Upside is you get all the bibs, and pins, at once and the packets are just “grab one and go” instead of “what distance? What gender?” The downside is waiting in 2 lines. One lady tells her husband to make sure she gets a female shirt if available. I comment “just leave it in the car. You know you’re going to be exchanging it tomorrow” and he laughs. Another lady comments on how everything should be at one spot (bibs and packets) and as someone who has volunteered I fought back the urge to encourage her to offer her time to help organize the event for next year. I get it. It’s raining and you don’t want to be here. Complaining makes it no better. I pick up our shirts, get the wrong size for the wife and head back to the party. 20 minutes later we return to exchange the shirt and the rain, and crowd, have all left.

Race Day
Knowing the area and the popularity of the race the group decided to meet 45 minutes before the race start. Knowing how much more time is required with a 5 month old I arrive about 20 minutes before this to get a good parking spot near the finish and get NeRP ready (fed, in the stroller, and to the designated meeting location) with enough time to do a 20-30 minute warm up. After the 5 minutes of showing off how round my son is and he gives everyone his big smile I take him for a warm up. Having absolutely no practice with pushing a child I decided to run into walking traffic along the course. Hmm…the stroller is pulling left. What’s this screw…oh it moves the wheel. SWEET! Stroller is getting an alignment. Why you’d ever WANT it to pull left/right is beyond me but apparently it’s an option. Thinking I know the course I run the first mile testing out the stroller, trying to get the kid to sleep, and seeing what kind of pace I can keep while also trying to get back to the start with about 10 minutes left. Heading back it looks like the race will start so I do a quick two strides, find the wife, drop the kid off and get to the starting line with time to do a few more strides to stay warm. Everyone on the starting line is ready to go and making jokes about how “we can’t hear anything. Hey Bob (guy dressed as a clown holding his hand up with a walkie talkie to his ear) you might want to move. You’re in a danger zone.” “He needs a sign like the motorcycle races where they turn it sideways and walk off.” “Oh man that fire truck is in a bad spot (100 feet from the start line, in the path of the race).” “NA! Those guys (including eventual 5k overall winner) will be out far enough they’ll have time to move over.” 10 second count down begins…GO!

Mile 1:
As with all “casual” 5k/10k runs there is always a mix of runners at the start. Even with self seeding and signs it never fails to have people who won’t be running a 6:00/mi pace standing in front of someone running that pace. In the first 100m I realize I’m doing sub 6 minute miles. “Back off.” 6:30. “Back off.” I’m getting passed by kids, adults, probably a guy pushing a stroller with a kid in it, and maybe even a guy in a pink gorilla costume. It’s not about them. It’s about the goal (6:50/mi) and starting out too fast isn’t the goal. There is a left hand turn 1/3 of a mile into this race. I take it wide because of the crowd of people who went out too fast now regretting that decision, and a random lady takes the inside, slips, hits the asphalt and all I can think is “I hope she isn’t doing the 10k” because I wouldn’t want to do much after a fall that hard. At the ½ mile mark I settle in to a small crowd at the pace I’m aiming for and hope they’ll be going 6.2 miles today. They look like experienced runners (not wearing the long sleeve shirt, garmins, compression sleeves, etc.) so it would be great to have a group to help pull me along. As we approach the 1 mile mark some random guy in all gray (we shall call him Mr. Gray) turns around and yells out “YEAH 1 MILE! LET’S GOOO!” which makes me hope he’s going to make a turn in about ½ a mile. I don’t want to hear every mile announced. The giant pink signs are enough to let me know where I’m at. 6:48/mi. Okay…it’s possible…but that hill…and that other one…it’s possible. Be positive.

Mile 2:
The cool thing about the 5k and the 10k starting together is I can see how far ahead the 5k winners are. I’m at mile 1.5 and the eventual winner is heading back. I’d just had to pick up the pace from 7:10 (where did that come from?!?!) to stick with the goal. As I pass more people I’m noticing my heart rate is getting high…like danger zone/can’t do this for too long high. I could just quit, turn at the 5K, not cross the finish line and call it a day. This is starting to suck and might be the worst day. Maybe I’m not in 42 minute shape. Well I’ve been reading the book ENDURE and just covered the “Conscious Quitter” chapter. Pretty much it says people perform better when they have positive reinforcement. Stuff like seeing people smile, or hearing encouragement, are able to endure through the discomfort for longer than people who get negative, or no, reinforcement. People will quit sooner if they’re in a bad mood. We’re not quitting. Get positive. Focus on breathing. Oh look…Mr. Gray is going 6.2 miles today. Let go catch him. I’ll bet he start out too fast because it looks like I’m going to catch him. I’m also alone because the pack I was in turned around. Let’s go get him on the hill. I know this course and I HATE that hill. 6:54. Not cool. Not a good sign of things to come if I’m already slowing down. I just might die today.

Miles 3-4:
The start of mile 3 is about the only time it’s been flat for any length of time. It’s part of a TON of races in the area and I know it. There is a hill around 2.75 that can take the wind out of your sails if you’re not prepared for it. It’s about 0.4 miles long and about a 2% grade but it feels MUCH worse. With how I was feeling (I’m going to die, I’m not going to be able to do this, I’m not in this shape) it had the potential to destroy any attempt of getting the goal accomplished. As I pass Mr. Gray and power up the hill I notice I’m doing 7:15 pace. FAWK. Well I notice the mile markers are a little ahead of the GPS. Maybe it’s a short course this year. It was 6.4 last time I ran this (2016) but then again, don’t trust the GPS. This hill also reminds me of the year I casually ran this with my wife (not casual for her) and a resident DEMANDED the volunteer stop the race so they could go to breakfast with their mother. I recall saying something like “dude it’s a charity run” and this is prior to having ANY volunteer experience. Volunteers never get enough appreciation. This hill still sucks though.

10K turn around is pretty open. The aid station is doing it’s job, police are moving cones to make the out and back easier for runners not to run into each other, or a car, and I see the top 3 guys. I start counting…I’m top 10. While not a YUUUUUGGE race it’s something. Don’t lose top 10. I hear someone behind me as I go through the turn around and focus on the pace. Someone yells “you’re way ahead of ____ keep it up” to the guy behind me. I don’t think that’s Mr. Gray. Use the downhill and get back on pace. This is starting to suck. Don’t go too fast though. It’s another 3 miles. Don’t blow up. Down the hill, on the flats, Someone behind me threatening to kick me out of the top 10, and my heart blasting as hard as it can while my stomach is telling me I’m either breathing too hard, it doesn’t like beer before a race, or I’m going to throw up. Just think….this is 3:00:00 marathon pace. Could you hold this for another 22.2 miles? 6:57…shit.

Mile 5-6
This sucks. Not only did I just pull two slow miles but I feel horrible. This is maybe the second time I’ve ever wanted to just quit a race because I felt so horrible. I can’t though. I have to stay positive. I’m top 10. I’m going to finish. It’s 2 miles. 15 minutes. Don’t get passed. Oh look…I’m catching that guy too. Okay go get him. This is a pretty flat area except for one short hill that’s hard just because at this point it’s almost over and flat is WAY better than any kind of elevation. So I’m probably like 7th or 8th place. I think I’m 8th. That’s good. Keep 8th. Get the time back. Come on! 6:52. Maybe it’s gone? Nope. Fuck that. 7 minutes. Wait, we’re going left? I thought we went that way? As I get passed (fuck it, not my day, maybe I’ll stay close) I realize we’re going back to the 5k turnaround. New course? Whatever I know where I’m going now. Slightly uphill, through the slower 5K run/walkers (moms with kids, parents/grandparents walking, slow runners, i.e. crowed streets) but it’s 1 mile.

As I navigate through the crowd and a volunteer says “runners stay to the right” I think “good luck with that. The aid station is to the right and people are walking 4 wide.” Just keep running. Oh look, I think I’m catching the guy with the tank top. Maybe I can get there. Just keep going. It will all be over soon. Zig zag around the crowds, take the inside turn, and enter the last ¾ mile with all of the walkers who were diverted to the finish because of cut off times. This is going to suck. I hate this every time because no one ever notices the 7 guys who just ran past them before me to, oh I don’t know….MAKE A PATH OR AN OPENING. Na, we’re here for the fundraiser. Oh and the home owners who setup mimosa bars on both sides of the street. Um…fuck your free mimosa. Realize there is a race going on and there is someone else here today. This is probably the NUMBER ONE THING I don’t like about this race but I’m not sure how it could be fixed. There are cones setup that look like you’re supposed to go through them, Naturally people will go through them. Nothing is marked “runners to the right walkers to the left” or anything like that. I’ll just have to figure it out and at least I knew it coming in. Oh, and it’s slightly uphill. It might as well be Everest. I don’t think I have anything left to give. So as everyone is getting free drinks or starting a ¼ mile sprint against each other, I’m trying to finish before my heart explodes and my stomach gives up. This seriously fucking sucks. This is absolutely 110% effort and it’s almost done. 6:45. HOLY SHIT!

In the book ENDURE it talks about an experiment where rugby players rode a bike at a set power (242 watts, whatever that means) with a cash prize as an award for whoever went the longest just to make sure everyone went to exhaustion. After each group quit and claimed they couldn’t do any more they were asked to ride as hard as they could for 5 seconds. They all hammered out 731 watts (average) for those 5 seconds. They all thought they had nothing left and still had something left. All of them. Every. Single. One.

Mile 6.15
As I realize I’m going to finish I see the clock at 42:00. HOLY SHIT I’M HERE!!!! I somehow have this SURGE of energy where all I want to do is take long strides and pass some kid pushing himself on an umbrella. My in-laws are there and cheer for me (totally didn’t expect them to be there) and probably figured out I was trying to pass the kid pushing himself. I also passed these two guys who were “sprinting” to the finish (ends up they’re in our group) and the guy in the lead kind of sounds defeated as I run past him. Stop the watch. Continue to feel like shit. Grab my “water in a fancy sport bottle” and start to walk to the inlaws.
42:11. 6:52/mile average. 6.15 miles. It’s a PR by 2 minutes and THAT course was 6.05 miles. I get back to the car, change, and get in touch with the wife. She’s about to finish. Perfect. Brunch time. Mimosa time. Sit down and play with NeRP.

What I learned
1. Don’t quit. If I have the confidence I can do it, I can do it.
2. Don’t think the course will be the same each year. Things change. Sometimes for the better.
3. Fun run 5/10ks CAN be a time to get a PR as long as I’m prepared mentally to deal with the crowd. There is probably a 5% chance I’ll have a problem.
4. My training paces support this finish. My recent 5K supports this finish. I’m training for my current physical fitness and not over reaching.
5. I need to get much faster if I’m going to BQ. This is 3:20 marathon condition. I need 3:07, or faster, in Chicago and this is pretty much what I’d be running as a tempo/LT run for that. I don’t know how that makes me feel.
6. This is probably easier than being a mom.
7. If you look at it the race actually spells Mother. I learned that about 30 seconds before typing #7.

Yes. I am planing to follow the same plan that i followed for richmond

1. Monday easy run

2. Tuesday hill repeats with my local group

3. Wednesday easy run

4. Thursday MP run 1/2 the distance of long run that week

5. Friday rest

6. Sat LSD

7. Sunday Trail run 10-11 miles

Planing to keep weekly miles 55+ for the 18 week cycle.

SC Obviously you'll need more beer. I like doing a 2 week or 10 day (hanson's) taper. I'd consider kicking out beer for a month and keeping the miles going with more marathon paced miles on the longer runs. I just felt really confident going into CIM having done 10 or 12 (I forget how many) miles at marathon pace + 10 seconds.

 

ace I mean....it would make a cool strava title.

 

Arvind thanks man. It felt good once I was finished but I didn't know how MUCH of a PR it was. Do you have a training plan for Chicago?

 

keen I'm kind of thinking the same thing. Maybe some of these long workouts will help as well. I ran this race to see where I'm at and to prepare for Chicago. I was kind of lucky with it being at a good point. I might have expected myself to be in better shape at this point but who knows. It says I'm in the shape I've been in and I haven't gained, or lost, speed. It MIGHT have helped having two days to taper. Saturday we had a birthday party plus the rain kind of killed chances of running. Plus I had to wrap a gift (instant pot) then had the wife unwrap it because I was excited to get her something she actually wanted. I suck with gifts. We shall see how well I do with rolling out of bed before work to get a lot of miles in. Off to updated the JD spreadsheet and see what it tells me (I'm in the same shape I was in Friday). HAHAHA.

 

What was the advantage/benefit/logic of using the lap button for 1,00m intervals and 400m repetitions? Asking for a friend.

Oh, and since I'm always fascinated with it, why don't you drink? I ask everyone who tells me that (usually) for some odd reason. If you want to send it in a message that's fine. My dad is like 25+ years sober and proably 20+ years smoke free. It's seriously impressive to me.

 

dwave you updated the spreadsheet FAST. I'm impressed.

 

oregon how was the quarter marathon?

 

rlk how is the "fun running" making you feel?

 

back to our regularly scheduled program. I don't know if I should go for 50 or 60 miles this week. Input? I have a 5 hour drive Saturday and Sunday. Obviously the long runs will be early. The Saturday drive can kind of be whenever. Sunday will be in the afternoon/early evening because I'll be at a party. For some reason 14-15 miles sounds appropriate. I have no reason why other than it's about 2 hours of running and marathon training is coming.

brew - nice 10K!   ...and I'm sure you'll be able to top that soon

arvind - I like your weekly training formula

my week - (calf strain, so no running yet)

M,T,W,Th,F,S,S: weights 15min, bike/elliptical 45min (HR120-130), pool running 30min

Pool running leaves me feeling great - I move my legs in all types of patterns (no float belt)

I've got a 2 week vacation coming up, so hopefully my calf will be good to start running when I get back.  I'm not going to think about races until I can get into a decent training groove.

Cheers to all 3:20ers

SC - I agree with Brew on the taper, generally.  I like to do the same mileage 3 weeks out as I've been doing, but with a shorter LR (so lots of MLRs, essentially), then 2 weeks out cut mileage to 2/3-ish, then week of race cut mileage even more.  Plus a lot of MP segments (I don't run MP other than in taper, really).

Brew - congratulations on the PR.  I hesitate to predict a marathon time from it for you since your times confound me. :-)

Arvind - looks like a solid plan.

rovatti - looks like good recovery.  Two weeks off should help - where are you going?

Brew - one week in isolation is hard to give advice for.  Hopefully you have more of an overall plan?

Ace - no runway for me, but I'm thinking about doing a half here in August (which, ugh) because it ends at a brewpub (and also, includes a ticket to the brewfest that afternoon).

If you've been watching my Strava (or Facebook) you have seen I've been biking a lot more lately. (And thanks for the nice comments on our lovely scenery!)  We leave for the White Rim (4 days, 100 miles) on Friday morning.  I'm probably in the worst shape I've been for this trip this year, but oh well, if I can't cope I can always volunteer to drive extra shifts.

 

Brew - congratulations on the PR.  I hesitate to predict a marathon time from it for you since your times confound me. :-)

Brew - one week in isolation is hard to give advice for.  Hopefully you have more of an overall plan?

 

If you've been watching my Strava (or Facebook) you have seen I've been biking a lot more lately. (And thanks for the nice comments on our lovely scenery!)  We leave for the White Rim (4 days, 100 miles) on Friday morning.  I'm probably in the worst shape I've been for this trip this year, but oh well, if I can't cope I can always volunteer to drive extra shifts.

Thanks. I agree on my times confusing me. I'm somehow hoping to channel that "last me" again and impress myself. I might even start cross training (TRX) more this week if I can get out of bed during the mornings or find time after work when NeRP is sleeping. As for the "overall plan" I'm kind of thinking "get lots of miles" before my relay in 2 weeks (6 man, 178 miles) and the start of Jack Daniels 2Q workouts. I think I even have the 2Q workouts somewhat scheduled on Saturdays and Wednesdays but that might become Sundays and Wednesdays on camping trips, if I'm home soon enough or I wake up early enough. I feel like I should do 55-60 because JD starts with 56.

I'm not sure I follow you on Strava. Maybe. I haven't even looked at the 3:20 Strava group in a while.

Brew - It sucks that that school locks the track. I'm fortunate that the track 3/4 mile from my neighborhood is always unlocked. I was a little worried they might lock it up after getting it resurfaced recently.
I don't have a sweet tooth, really, but sometimes get on a frozen custard kick. Running is certainly my biggest "vice", which makes me feel quite boring sometimes.
I haven't heard that George Carlin bit - I'll have to look that up.
I don't have the book, but have given serious thought to picking it up. The guy behind the Ten Junk Miles podcast did a long interview with Catra before the book came out, which was pretty good. There are also a couple other "redemption from drug addiction by running" books they have mentioned but I can't find them now.